One Psychic, Coming Up!
by MadamMistress
Summary: When Lara starts hearing voices, she nearly succeeds in not freaking out. Then people start dying. Now what?
1. Prolouge

**Prologue**

The hunter sat on the cold, hard roof and stared down at the blond boy down on the street below him. He held up a picture and checked to make sure he had the right person. The picture matched the boy on the street exactly. It showed a boy with blond hair and fair skin. He couldn't have been more than 13. The most noticeable thing about him was his eyes. They were ash-gray. On the hunter's lap was a file which held information about the boy. His height, weight, and age, for example, his name, too.

"We have a match. Do it," the hunter said into a walkie-talkie.

"Roger." The hunter smiled grimly as he watched three men surround the boy. The boy looked startled. One of the men grabbed him, and his eyes widened. The other men laughed at the boy's fright. The hunter's smile got bigger as the men dragged the boy down an alley.

'_That'll teach you, mutant,'_ He thought, _'and all your kind too. You don't belong on God's planet. We will exterminate you and make the world pure again.'_ He laughed. _'Too bad, mutants. By the time you figure out what's happening, we'll be impossible to stop.'_

The men came out of the alleyway and walked casually down the street. A few minutes after they turned the corner, a squawk came over the walkie-talkie.

"Mission accomplished, sir," the hunter rolled his eyes at the military phrase.

"Good. All of it?"

"Yes. All of it done as ordered."

"Excellent. We'll move on to the next target."

"Yes, sir."

The hunter stood up and brushed off his ragged jeans. He clipped the photo to the file and put it away in his bag. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he walked to the door to the stairs off the roof. It was time to report in.

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A/N: Tell me what you think, please! Should I continue, or not? Thanks**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that does not belong to me.** **You already knew that though. Right?**

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**Chapter One**

People have always told me that if I work hard enough, I can be anything I want to be. Which is nice, until they start to suggest things – things like modeling, or acting. If I wanted to be a bimbo, I'd have gotten there already. But, they insist that money is the most important thing ever. Again, if that was _my _important thing, I'd kill myself. Who wants to waste time worrying about how much money they have and getting jealous of other people making more money? I have better things to do with my time. Not really, but still. Why would anyone want to waste time like that? It's completely pointless. If you're going to worry about something, worry about something that matters. I mean, seriously. Don't be an idiot, please. There are too many of those in the world already, we don't need another one.

But enough of that. I should probably be listening to what I'm supposed to be listening to, which is my health teacher's lecture. It had something to do with how drugs and alcohol stopped you from doing anything with your life. It ruins your chances at doing what you want to do, you know! Which is exactly how I got started on my rant. No one was listening to her, anyways. Besides, I wasn't going to do drugs, anyways. Who wants to waste their life like that? Apparently some people, because otherwise we wouldn't be having this lecture in the first place. Stupid Health requirement. If it wasn't for that, I'd be sitting in a _much_ more interesting 7th bell class.

_'Tell us something new, damn it! We know all this already!'_ Oooh, brave student. Not many would say something like that aloud. I waited for the teacher to tell off the troublemaker. To my surprise, the teacher ignored the comment completely. Well, whatever. If the teacher doesn't want to tell someone off for back mouthing her wonderful teaching method, that's her problem, not mine.

_'Damn, even the teacher looks bored by her lecture!'_ …What? Now that I think about it, the teacher does look bored. But who would notice that and then say it out loud _during class?_ Only an idiot. I glanced at the teacher, who was _still_ ignoring the whispers! What's wrong with this picture? Normally she would tell them off immediately. Can't she hear them talk?

I was interrupted from my musings by yet another mumble.

_'2 minutes left, and I'll be out of here!'_ I was shocked. That was Kevin. Kevin the quiet. Kevin who should be on the football them because he's freaking _huge _Kevin. The Kevin who spoke twice a day, maybe. I waited for the surprised muttering to start. Nothing. What was _wrong _with these people? First they mumble, and then they ignore Kevin talking, even though it was practically a new record for his words. Wait, he was talking again. Well, I wanted to listen. How often do you hear the silent talk?

_'…dance lessons. We're supposed to be learning a new routine today and I…'_ Shocking, to say the least. Who knew that Kevin took dance lessons? I guess it's not really any of my business. Still, it was interesting. I'll probably end up telling Zack. Zack was my best friend in the world. He was pretty much my only friend, or at least, he's the only friend worth mentioning. All the others change friends depending on the fashion. Right now, apparently, it's in fashion to be friends with me, and so, I've gotfriends**.** Hurray! Not. Pretty soon I'll be out of fashion (hopefully), and thenmynew 'friends' will leave me alone**.** I still haven't figured out why they're even bothering to pretend to be my friends. It just doesn't make sense.

_Ding!_ The school bell interrupted my thoughts. It was finally the end of the day. I glanced up as Kevin's chair scraped across the floor. He looked happy. I'm definitely only telling Zack. He knows how to keep a secret, thankfully. But, I wasn't going to think about secrets right now, no matter whose they were. No, I was not going to think about secrets, even mine. Shit. I walked out of the classroom and down the hallway. Not thinking about it, not thinking about it, not thinking about it. I'll think about…books. Not ones set in high school, though. There are too many secrets in high school. Shit, shit, shit. My pace increased, and I was quickly at my locker. I grabbed my things and shoved them in my backpack. I wanted out of this stupid high school with its stupid secrets. NO. I'm NOT THINKING ABOUT IT! No, no, no. I slammed my locker shut and started down the hallway, still at my quick pace, when I heard another mumble. This one was louder than the others, but it was still creeping me out.

_'Oh my god, here comes Sara. She looks like she's in a bad mood. I'm soooo dead.'_ Sara, queen of school, and acknowledged airhead. Isn't high school great?

"Lara!" A now familiar squeal made itself heard. It was Sara. Oh, Sara. Sara, Sara, Sara, my first new 'friend' and the one who annoyed me the most. I looked her over. She didn't _look_ like she was in a bad mood. Still…

"Hi, Sara," I said cautiously. It was always safer to be careful with what you said around the popular crowd. They're liable to insults and destroying self-esteem. If you hear it enough, you start to believe it.

"So, Lara, like, what's with you and Zack?" she asked. "I've been hearing some, you know, _rumors_." She said rumors like it was the most holy word ever. "Are you, like, seeing each other?" Shoot.

"What are you talking about?" I replied. Maybe. I don't know myself. Not that I was going to tell her that. It was simpler to keep her guessing. And it was more fun. Seeing Sara's reactions was a big part in my not ditching her and her crowd.

"Like, are you dating?" She pressed. What's with all the questions about Zack? Does she like him or something? Hmmmmm. That might be the reason she hangs out with me.

_'OMG, Lara better not be dating MY Zack.'_ 'MY Zack? _MY ZACK?'_ What the heck? Since when has Sara started referring to Zack as HER Zack? And following the stupid mumble trend is so stupid. Although…I might be able to use this. Zack had told me that he found all my new 'friends' very annoying when I complained about them one day. I tell Zack pretty much everything. Sometimes I think he knows more about me than I do. He didn't like their shallowness anymore than I did. I opened my mouth to tell her that 'no, we weren't but I'd had a crush on him for _years_ and wouldn't she help me out?' when a particularly load mumble stopped me.

_'Damn it!'_ A voice I didn't recognize was in tears. _'My parents are going to kill me! My iPhone's been stolen! It was brand new and I promised not to lose it and now it's been stolen!'_ Now that was weird. No one, NO one would say that they'd had their brand new iPhone stolen, even if it _was_ part of some new trend that I didn't care about. I frowned, thinking it over. It didn't make sense. I can understand the rest of the world being insane and following pointless money-wasting trends, but even for that, no one tells the world that they've had something stolen, not during high school, especially not this one. They'd never see it again. So…why start now? It just didn't make sense.

"Well?" It was Sara again. _'God, are you going to answer me or not?'_

"Yes," I said distractedly, "did you h—"

"WHAT?" She shrieked. Wait, why was she shrieking? …… Oh, right. Shit. I just told her that Zack and I are dating. "YOU'RE DATING?" She continued to shriek, but I stopped listening. People were starting to look up, annoyed. When they saw it was Sara shouting, they hastily looked away.

_'Oh, god'_

_'That Sara is always…'_

_'Jeez, what is Lara thinking, making Sara mad? It's so …'_

_'If I don't look at them, Sara won't notice me…'_ The mumbles were getting louder, with traces of panic in them. Who knew that Sara could inspire such fear in all of our peers? The mumbles swelled to a roar, each one indistinguishable from the next. A pounding headache grew in my temples. Dimly I could hear Sara shrieking continuously, but her voice was drowned out by the other ones. My face scrunched up in pain, and I put my hands over my ears, trying to stop the noise, or at least, block some of it. It didn't work. A hand shook me. I looked up into concerned black eyes. Zack. As I focused on him, the noise I was hearing quieted a little, maybe because I wasn't concentrating on it anymore. Even Sara had shut up.

"Lara, are you okay?" He asked quietly, "It looked like you were hurt or something." He gave me a small, concerned smile.

"Zack! Tell me it's not true!" Sara wailed. She is _such_ a drama queen, and so _cheesy_ too. Although, I bet she didn't even realize how cheesy it was to say that.

"Tell you what isn't true?" Zack was, understandably, confused, seeing as we _weren't_ dating, and I'd told Sara that we were on accident. I wouldn't _mind_ dating Zack, of course, since he's _definitely_ the cutest and nicest boy in school. Ah! That's why Sara started hanging out with me! I realized. She does like Zack! HA!

"That you and Lara are dating! You're not are you?" Sara's voice was increasing in pitch and decibels. Pretty soon the windows would crack. It probably would've annoyed me more if it wasn't for the headache I had. The murmur of voices swelled. Ugh. What was _with_ these people? They were so _loud_. Jeez. I can't hear Zack, and he's right next to me. Glancing around, I frowned. No one was talking. At least, not at the volume I was hearing. That's … weird, to say the least. If no one was talking, what was I hearing? I had never heard of a sudden onset of insanity. Normally someone is born mad, or goes mad after some sort of accident, and I hadn't been in an accident. Had I? I searched my memory, looking for some sort of gap. I couldn't find anything. I'd never woken up in the hospital and not known how I'd gotten there. I'd never woken up and found it was days later than I thought it was. So _what was happening to me?_ I was seriously starting to panic.

_'…nuts, taking on Sara like that…'_

_'…my iPhone! I can't believe I…'_

The voices got louder, each one shouting at me. A quick glance at Zack told me he was slightly angry, but he didn't seem to hear anything. A look at Sara told me she was furious, but not nearly as mad as she'd be if everyone in the hallway was talking over her. So she wasn't hearing anything either. She gestured toward me, sneering. Her mouth shaped some words, but I didn't hear her voice over the clamor of voices in the hallway.

_'…looks so confused. So much for her confidence.' _ This voice was condescending. _'I knew Lara wasn't as confident as she seemed.'_ My eyes widened. I knew that voice. _'Humph. I guess she is only a pretty face. Ugh. I told Sara to ditch her, but she was so hung up on Zack that she wouldn't listen. And now, it turns out that Lara and Zack were dating! This is just too funny!'_ Chloe. That was Chloe. Okay. Seriously freaking out here. I was definitely going mad, if I was hearing Chloe's voice in my head. Why her, of all people? If I had to hear voices, why couldn't I hear the voices of people I actually liked? Jenna, for example, or Amy. Now there were nice people! They wouldn't judge a person just because they looked confused. Why couldn't everyone be that way?

Wait. I don't want to know.

Really, I don't.

Chloe was still blabbing on and on about some ridiculous thing, but I ignored her. She annoys me. A lot.

Zack grabbed my arm and started to walk away. It was go with him or be towed. I chose to talk. He didn't say anything; he just watched me as we walked out of the school. It wasn't until we were in his car and safely on the road – the voices fading into the background, thankfully, - that he turned to me.

"What was that?" He was, understandably, angry. "Why did you tell Sara we were dating?"

"You make it sound like you care about what they think." I commented. His mouth formed a tight line.

"I don't' care what, if anything, they think. What I do care about is what they'll do to us when they stop giving us the silent treatment – probably over the weekend, when they've had a chance to cool down." I winced. Could I survive an entire day with all that noise? "Well?"

"I didn't think you'd mind dating me this much." My tone was conversational. He scowled, his eyebrows snapping together.

"If that was my problem, I'd have told you already." He accelerated down my street, completely ignoring the stop signs and the speed limit. "Stop stalling, Lara."

I sighed. "I'm not sure what happened, exactly." I began slowly. "I'm not sure how to explain it." He pulled into my driveway and screeched to a halt.

"Try."

Still, I hesitated. He turned the car off and waited. I closed my eyes and told him.

"I'm hearing voices."

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**A/N: Reviews make me happy! The buttons right there... ;D why don't you click it and tell me what you think?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is not mine. I trust you can tell the difference, right?**

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_Previously:_

_"I'm hearing voices."_

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**Chapter Two**

Zack was … unbelieving, to say the least.

"Voices," He stated.

"Yep," This was definitely not going well.

"Sara and I were talking," he started.

"I would use arguing, not talking." I told him. "You weren't _talking,_ Zack, you were shouting." Zack grimaced, probably at my pickiness, and opened his mouth, but I beat him to it. "Yelling maybe, Zack, but I wouldn't describe what I saw as talking. _ She_ was screeching, or whining at the top of her lungs, but she wasn't just _talking,_ either, Zack, you know that." He just nodded. I saw the corners of his mouth trembling. I felt myself relax slightly. Maybe this wouldn't end in complete disaster after all. "Talking now, _talking_ is when tow people sit down and have a conversation." I stopped. Zack was laughing. I relaxed completely. Disaster had been averted. For now. He shook his head and sighed.

"You're really weird, you know that?"

"Yep!" It's amazing how the atmosphere had changed from tense to joking.

"Come on." He unlocked the car and started to get out. "Let's go inside. You can tell me about your voices there."  
I hurriedly followed suit.

"They're not _my_ voices. I was just hearing them. I'm not going mad either – they weren't interesting enough."

Zack raised his eyebrows.

"Really? Start at the beginning. When did this start?" He asked.

"Um," I thought about it as I unlocked the front door. "I think 7th bell. We were listening to a lecture, and someone – I don't know who – complained about knowing this already, but the teacher didn't tell them off." We walked inside, and I listened to the door slam behind us as I kicked off my clogs. Zack sat on the ledge leading up into the hallway to take off his shoes. I leaned against the wall as I continued. "Then someone else said something about the teacher looking bored with his lecture, which no one would say **out loud** during class, Zack, they'd get in trouble, and people would laugh; only no one did because no one heard!" I paused for breath. Zack put his shoes to the side and stood up.

"No one heard?" He clarified as we walked into the living room. I nodded in reply.

"No one seemed to hear. It was really weird." I dumped my bag on the beige carpeted floor and sat down on the couch with a sigh. Zack sat on the other end of the tan couch and motioned for me to continue. "Then Kevin, _Kevin,_ started to count down the time. That really startled me because Kevin never talks, yet hear he is blabbering about dance lessons."

"_Dance lessons?_" Zack asked incredulously. "Kevin takes dance lessons?" I nodded. He started to laugh again, and I had to grin. It was funny, and I liked to hear Zack laugh.

"Zack," I started after he had calmed down some.

"I'm not gonna tell, Lara." He said instantly.

"Yeah, I know, but Zack, when you and Sara were arguing, I didn't hear any of it, and I was _standing right __**next**__ to you!_" My voice was anxious, rising in pitch towards the end.

"You didn't hear anything." Despite the phrasing, it wasn't a question.

"Not after Sara said 'tell me it isn't true!'" I affirmed. "Then, all I could hear were those stupid voices." I tried to sound nonchalant, but from the look on his face, Zack wasn't fooled.

"That's it?" He asked. "You couldn't hear anything specific?"

"Well, some kid lost their iPhone, and I heard Chloe loud and clear, which really sucked, but mostly people were freaking out about Sara being mad." I took a shaky breath.

"Let me think." He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "The mad don't hear voices they recognize, so we know you're not mad," his voice trailed off.

I nodded, trying to keep from trembling. How could he be taking this so calmly? It's not fair!

I think I jumped out of my skin when he put his arms around me. I do now that I squeaked. It would've been **super** embarrassing if I wasn't busy freaking out. He chuckled in my ear.

"Calm down, Lara," he told me. I could still hear the laughter in his voice. "We'll figure this out." I turned so my face was in the crook of his neck and squirmed to get comfy. "There are three options." He continued. "You could be making it up, but I can tell when you lie, so that's not it." I scowled into his chest. Zack pulled me closer, and I slid into his lap. I was still shuddering, but I could feel myself calming down.

"We already know that you're not mad, so you can stop freaking out about that." He rubbed circles on my back, trying to soothe me.

I gradually calmed down, until I had some semblance of control back. Slowly I stopped shaking. I became aware of an irritating noise in the background, sort of like music or a talk show on the radio turned down until you can barely hear it. Sort of, only this was a real conversation, not a debate or song.

"Zack?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Is… is the radio on?" I was tense again, my voice reflecting this by creeping up in pitch towards the end, my last word ending in a gasp.

"No…" he said slowly. "What do you hear?"

I took a shuddery breath. "Not much, really. I can't make it out. It's – it's kind of, kind of like when you turn a r-radio down real low, so you can barely hear it." My voice had dropped to a whisper, and I was shaking again, but I couldn't stop. Zack's hand continued to rub circles on my back, still trying to soothe me, while he thought.

"Well," he finally said, "I don't hear anything." He paused, and I think he was trying to figure out how to say what he was thinking. "Which brings us to the third, and final, option." He stopped again and sighed, his breath ruffling my hair.

"You might be a mutant."

I froze. What?

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**AN: Review! Review, Review, Reveiw! Have I made myself clear?**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is not mine.**

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_Previously:_

_"You might be a mutant."_

_I froze. What?_

**Chapter Three**

"What? A - a mutant?" I stammered.

"Yeah," Zack replied calmly.

"You --! How can you be taking this so calmly?" I pushed myself back so I could see his face. His black eyes were level, and he seemed utterly calm.

"One of us needs to be." He replied.

"Haven't you heard the stories?" I asked angrily. "Haven't you heard what happens to people who turn out to be mutants?" I jumped off the couch and started pacing around the wood and glass coffee table in front of it. "I have – they end up in the hospital, or dead and you're telling me to be calm?" I looked at him accusingly.

"I'm not telling you to not be afraid, Lara," he said seriously. "I **am** telling you to calm down – your emotions affect your powers, even when you learn to control them – although, after you can control them, it's normally just the strong emotions that affect them."

It was true. The conversation I'd barely heard before was now a lot clearer – I couldn't hear everything, but I could hear snippets.

_'…wasting his time, she's not gonna …'_

_'…girls, why'd she get so mad? I …'_

I covered my ears reflexively. It still didn't help. It's so annoying, hearing these voices.

"Calm down, Lara. Take a deep breath." I obeyed. "Good girl. Again – in … out." I let out my breath and looked at Zack, who had somehow managed to get up and stand in front of me without me hearing. It's not very surprising, really, after all, people tend to hear one thing at a time, and I was paying attention to those pesky voices.

"Better?" Zack asked with a smile.

"A bit," I admitted. Then I remembered something. "Them?" I asked my eyes wide.

"Yeah. You're psychic, Lara. Telepathic. You read minds. You should be able to project your voice into someone else's head, and move things with your mind – most psychics can." He replied, still calm.

I nodded, processing this. Then something occurred to me.

"How do you know so much, Zack?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his black hair.

"I am a mutant." He stated calmly, but his eyes were wary.

"You are not." I said stupidly, my voice sounding accusing for some reason. His lips twitched slightly upward in an approximation of a smile.

"Yes, I am." He told me.

"But, but what can you do?" I was still processing this new revelation. Zack chuckled.

"I'm good with plants." He told me simply.

"Is that why the garden at your house is so nice?" I asked in shock.

"Yes," he said instantly, "but don't tell my step-mom, okay? She thinks it's all her." He chuckled again, but it had a bit of tension in it. Understandable, really.

"I thought you didn't like your step-mom." I did my best to sound innocent. Zack wasn't fooled.

"I don't, but that's no reason to be mean to plants." Zack answered me anyway.

I nodded. That made sense. Take your anger out on the one who made you mad, right?

"Okay," I stated. "So. What now?"

"That's a good question." Zack replied. "We should probably do our homework." I groaned. How was I supposed to survive school tomorrow? "Chill." He told me. "It'll be fine. We'll figure something out. Just, not now, alright?"

"Fine." I grumbled.

Homework passed quickly, for once. We hadn't been given much for some reason. The teachers were probably planning to dump it all on us tomorrow so we'd have 'plenty of time over the weekend.' Yeah, right. There was probably a teacher conspiracy. If I could read minds – wait. I _can_ read minds. Okay, this could be kind of cool. I'll have to find out tomorrow if there _was_ a conspiracy. I smiled. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad tomorrow.

"So," Zack said quietly. I looked at him questioningly. "you need to learn control."

"Yep." I replied, popping the p. "I can't go around answering people's thoughts – I've done enough damage already." I chuckled uncomfortably. Zack nodded in agreement, not bothering to hide his smile. Figures. Now he finds it funny. "So, how do I control it?"

The smile on Zack's face abruptly disappeared as he became serious.

"Like I said, right now, you need to get a grip on your emotions – it makes everything a lot easier. After that, well, it varies, depending on the person. Now that you know that it's there, it's pretty easy. The first time your power kicks in is always the worst. After that, as long as you're not afraid of it, it's pretty easy. It's just a matter of focus and will."

"Just?" I asked incredulously.

"It's pretty easy once you know it's there, Lara."

"Really?" I asked sarcastically.

"Really." He replied strait faced.

I sighed. "How do I start?" I was tired just thinking about it.

Before Zack could answer me, we heard a car pull into the driveway. I automatically tensed. A car door slammed, and my heart rate increased.

_'… son of a bitch, who does he think he is, talking to me like that?'_ The thought was full of rage, and definitely a man's. _'He can't do this to me! Anger issues, I'll show him anger issues!'_ At this, I focused on my breathing, counting my breaths until I was calm. Calmer is more accurate. Being completely calm was a dream with a man like him in the house.

Jim, my mother's boyfriend.

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**A/N: Yay! New chapter! Tell me what you think, please! It inspires me! You know you want to review!  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Nothing that is not mine is mine.**

_Previously:_

_Jim, my mother's boyfriend._

**Chapter Four**

I heard the jingle of keys as Jim unlocked the front door. I took a deep breath, and went to sit back down on the couch. The front door slammed behind him, and Zack came to sit beside me.

"Done?" He asked me. I nodded. "Cool. Let's see what's on." He leaned forward and grabbed the remote to the TV. As Zack turned the TV on, a muffled curse drifted down the hallway. Over the noise of whatever was on TV, I heard the thumps of his boots hitting the floor. Jim stomped down the hallway and stood in the doorway into the living room, glaring at us.

"What're yew doin'?" His voice was unpleasant, and slightly nasally.

"Watching TV," Zack replied nonchalantly.

"Right," Jim sneered, his eyes narrowing even more.

"Right," Zack agreed simply.

Giving us a final glare, Jim stomped off into the kitchen.

Jim was a big man, easily 6'3." He was thick, and claimed to have played football for his high school. If he did, he was probably kicked off the team. His blond hair seemed to be perpetually greasy and plastered to his skull. He drank a lot, causing his blue eyes to be bloodshot, and his cheeks to be flushed. He was one of those people who was eternally dissatisfied with his lot, and always blamed other people for his problems. He was a big brute of a man with anger management issues and a drinking problem.

Having him in the house made me glad that my bedroom door locked. That man seriously freaked me out.

I let out a long breath and sagged back against the couch. Zak put his arm around me and pulled me closer, turning his face so his mouth was by my ear.

"That guy really pisses me off." He whispered.

"He scares me." I whispered back.

Zack's arm tightened around me.

"He's not gonna hurt you, Lara." He told me firmly. I wasn't so sure. The looks Jim gave me sometimes…they were so…dirty. There's more than one way to hurt someone, after all.

Jim stomped back into the living room, a beer in his hand. I glanced at the clock. It was barely 4:30.

"You," he asked me unwillingly, "where's your mother?"

"She's probably still at work." I told him. Duh. The good thing about my mother is that she worked past 6, making our encounters minimal.

Jim snorted disapprovingly. "Whatever. Give me the remote." He ordered.

Zack tossed him the remote without moving. Jim narrowed his eyes as if deciding whether or not to take that as an insult. Eventually he sat down on the chair directly in front of the TV. He flipped the channel to some sports game. I feigned interest; it was safer than leaving the room. Time passed slowly, dully, monotonously and emotionlessly in a room that seemed suddenly smaller, colorless, and soundless. It was as if I was no longer a part of reality. I had gone to that place in my head where everything was simpler and easier to bear. The place where the most insignificant details are more noticeable – more important, even – than other things. The dust mote spiraling slowly through the lone, solitary ray of sunlight that shone through the window into the living room to fall onto the dark green carpeting was suddenly important. The game and Jim's curses when his team lost the ball or the point became unimportant. So did Jim's many trips to the kitchen for more beer. These facts registered, but were simply unimportant; I'd trained myself to remember them, just in case, but I didn't care about them right now. What was infinitely more interesting was the sudden influx of voices. I hadn't realized earlier, but people have some really random thoughts, like what shade of green that leaf is, exactly, and the precise color of the sky. Though, that might just be how this one guy thinks. What was his name again? I couldn't remember. Names were unimportant here, in this timeless place inside my head.

Zack gave me a little shake. I reentered reality suddenly. It was always a shock to come back down to earth. I sighed wistfully. Why couldn't reality be that nice? I had to concentrate to keep the thoughts of other people out of my head. Thankfully, Jim's were centered on the game, and relatively easy to tune out and ignore. The thoughts from down the street were less interesting and more annoying. The game was still on, but it was almost over. I checked the score quickly. 3-4 in favor of Jim's team. Well, that made my life slightly easier. Jim was easier to deal with when he was happy.

The clock on the TV read about six. My mother ought to be home soon, then; just in time for the news, which we'd all watch, and then Zack would go home. The evening ritual was defined and static – never changing. It was the nice thing about being at home. The only nice thing.

During one bout of angry shouting, my mother suddenly appeared in the doorway to the living room. She was very good at that – showing up silently all of the sudden.

"What are we watching, Jim?" She asked with a slight, frosty smile.

"Just the game, babe." Jim slurred, leering at her. He got up and walked over to her with a slight lurch to his step. That boss of his must have made him really mad. He usually never got this drunk this early in the day. He had slightly more self control than that. It probably didn't help that my mother didn't say anything about his drinking problem. She was skilled at ignoring anything she didn't like.

"Well, alright then, but the news will be on soon. Jim, why don't you put it on?" Her voice, while pleasant seeming, had a subtle undertone. She never made requests, the phrasings she used just made it seem like she was.

"Sure thing, Susan." Jim gave a sort of chuckle, and flipped to the news channel. He sat back down, pulling her with him. She gave a silly little laugh, although I could tell she wasn't amused. She never was.

My mother looked similar enough to me that people knew we were related. We both had straight brown hair, but mine was a few shades lighter than her dark brown – almost black – hair. We had the same nose, small and thin, and high cheekbones. Our eyes were shaped the same, although my eyes were green and hers were brown as mud. She was a mere 5'4" at 40, and I had that height at 16; I had inherited my height from my father. We were both slender, and I maintained that a lot easier than she did.

The news came on, something about how Senator Kelly had suddenly changed his tune from fanatically supporting to adamantly opposing the Mutant Registration Act. I'd never understood how that bill was even considered – it was so Nazi-like, it wasn't funny, but I'd found that politicians tend to over react, especially when it was election time. It had been amusing, but now, knowing I was a mutant, it was a bit scary. I didn't want people to know that I was a mutant, and this bill would make me admit it. The things some people come up with never cease to amuse me.

The news spokesperson went on to announce how there'd been a fire in an office building downtown that had been put out with the sudden bursting of the water pipes in the building – mutant involvement was suspected. I agreed with them – a mutant working in the building had probably caused the pipes to burst, not caused it, like most people seemed to believe.

"Yesterday, the police found the body of a 13 year old boy, who seems to have been ritually killed. He is believed to be the _seventh_ of these murders. The police have not released any of the victim's names, but say that the only thing these seven people have in common is that they are all mutants." At this, I started paying attention, and I felt Zack stiffen beside me. Seven mutants killed? I was shocked. What kind of people would do that? It _had_ to be some kind of cult. What if they came here? What if they came after me or Zack? I was getting myself so worked up that the voices were becoming clear again. My mother was slightly disturbed, but it was more due to the fact that it was probably a cult killing than the fact that seven people had been killed, one of them a young boy. I gave myself a shake. The chances of these cult guys knowing that Zack and I were mutants, and then showing up to kill us was minimal. Even knowing that, I was still worried. Seven people were dead. Seven. It was like we were back in the days of vigilantes and witch hunting; only with so much more technology available to these guys it'd be a lot easier to tell whether or not someone was a mutant. They could hack into a hospitals records and look at a person's medical history and look at their past blood tests and see if they're a mutant. I was trying to contain my panic when it occurred to me that no one knew I was a mutant, except Zack, and he wouldn't tell anyone, and that Zack could protect himself if someone came after him. At least, I hoped he could. I'd have to ask him later.

"When asked for a statement on the case, the police declined to comment." The spokesperson went on to the next story, but no one was listening any more.

"Serves them right, the damn mutants!" Jim said explosively. I'd known that Jim didn't like mutants, but not that he hated them. His thoughts were all about how they shouldn't have their powers, as if everyone had some super awesome power to blow things up.

"The Mutant Registration Act should get passed. It's dangerous to have them around. No one's safe if there's a mutant in the area. They shouldn't be allowed to work with the honest people, like us!" I had to suppress a snort. Jim _honest?_ If such a thing had ever happened, I'd yet to see it. "They're taking jobs from hard-working _real_ people, and not even doing them properly! That Senator Kelly guy, he had the right idea, until the damn mutants got to him. They're probably him so he'll stop supporting the Act. Best damn bill this country's seen in a long time, and what do they do? They try to stop it! Well, I'll tell you what _I'm_ gonna do. I'm gonna go get those damn mutants, and I'm gonna show them what's what. I won't do it alone, either. I know some right thinking guys who'll help me. We'll show them who's boss." Jim went on for some time. It was sick, and I knew that he'd find a way to follow through with his thoughts. It was one thing that made him so dangerous. I truly, honestly, sincerely don't know why my mother keeps such an idiot around. He wouldn't last a day if it was me he was dating. I suppose that's just another difference between my mother and myself.

My mother gave another of her little fake laughs, and put on what I suppose was meant to be a kind smile as she looked at Zack and I.

"I'd better put on dinner. Spaghetti, I think. Zack, will you be eating with us?"

"No thanks, Ms. Huntley. I'm expected at home." Zack replied.

_'Good. I don't know why Lara likes that boy. He's far too familiar with her. It's not proper for a girl to have such a commitment to a boy. I'll have to do something about him.'_ I quickly controlled my facial expression. Do something indeed. Well, she can try to make me stop having Zack as a friend. That's all we were, as far as I knew. We weren't dating, not really. We were just friends. I'd like to be more, of course, but I don't want to ruin our friendship. I suppressed a sigh. Maybe I should just listen to his thoughts. I concentrated on that inside ear that I was discovering. The one that let me hear people's thoughts. I listened with that trying to hear Zack, not the conversation he and my mother were having on how Zack was always welcome for dinner. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hear him. Strange. Why can't I hear him?

My mother got up and went into the kitchen and Zack shot me an amused look.

"That's not going to work." He said with a smirk.

"What's not going to work?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"You're not going to be able to hear me." Zack told me smugly.

"Why not?" I inquired.

"I know how to put up a shield so I can keep my mind to myself."

"Not fair! You definitely need to tell me how to do that!" I said in a heated whisper, glancing at the doorway into the kitchen and at Jim nervously. My mother shared many of Jim's views on mutant rights. It would be very bad if they guessed I was one.

"Sure, sure. It's not going to help you get into my head, though." He replied just as quietly, it was still just as aggravating as it would've been had he spoken at normal volume. I made a face at him, and he laughed at my expression.

Shaking his head, Zack got up with a sigh.

"I'd better go." He informs me quietly.

"All right." I got up and walked him to the door. "You do know that you're feeding me to the dogs, right?" I was only partly teasing him.

"I know, and I'm sorry about it." He responded seriously. "It's unavoidable. If I stay too long, they'll turn out the police and every person in the community. I'd like to avoid being known as the boy with over-reacting parents." His face was serious, but I could tell he was teasing me.

"Too late." I teased right back. "Everyone remembers what they did on the parent-teacher conference. I really think your step-mom is over doing the whole protective mother thing."

"Tell me about it. It's suffocating, and when she's not being overprotective, she's being a control freak. I'm starting to think she's bi-polar or something." We both chuckled a bit. It was a tense laugh, though. I'd met his step-mom, and she really was like that. One personality for the outside world, and one for the house. It was freaky.

"Be careful, okay?" I beseeched as Zack turned toward the door. He turned back toward me with a confused look that turned into a knowing smile as he took in my expression.

"Don't worry, Lara." He said soothingly. "I can take care of myself."

I grabbed him in an instinctual hug and squeezed him tightly.

"Promise?" I asked. I felt like a child asking for reassurance from its parent after a nightmare, but I didn't care. I couldn't stand even the thought of losing Zack; it'd be unbearable, even if this was the only time I'd let on to that fact. Zack's arms went around me and he hugged me just as tightly as I was hugging him, reassuring me silently.

"I promise." He guaranteed me. I felt a little better. Zack wouldn't lie to me, not about this, not about something that was clearly worrying me. Even with his reassurance, though, I was still worried. Those guys were still out there, and someone was going to get hurt. I didn't understand why those guys wanted to hurt people. People were people, after all; it didn't matter if you were a mutant or not, you still had the same rights as everyone else. It didn't make sense to me why people take it so personally that there are different people out there. Normally I chalked it up to the fact that people in general are stupid and self centered. Now, though, with it so personal, it was a great deal more troubling.

"Don't worry so much, Lara." Zack told me with a slight chuckle. "What're the chances of those guys coming here for us? It's not like we're attracting any attention from anyone important. How would they know? And, more importantly, why would they care?"

"Because, Zack, we're mutants!" I hissed at him. "They make it their business to care! They don't need any other reason except for the fact that we are, in fact, mutants to do anything. For goodness sake, Zack, they killed a 13 year old! Don't tell me not to worry! And don't say 'what could happen?' you'll jinx us! Don't make light of this, Zack, it's dangerous." I buried my face in Zack's shoulder, shaking.

"I wasn't making light of this, Lara." He murmured gently. "I know it's serious stuff, but it doesn't help to freak out at everything – you'll be a nervous wreck before the week's out, and that wouldn't help you if they do decide to come after us, even if the chances of that happening are slim to none."

"I know that, Zack, but still, it's better to be on our guard." My arms tightened around him. "Better safe than sorry." I was shaking harder than ever, and Zack held me close enough that I could feel his heart beat in my chest. It was a very soothing feeling, and that, more than the soft crooning in my ear, was what calmed me down. I was glad that Zack hadn't said that it'll be alright. Not only was that just asking for trouble, but he also couldn't know that, and I hated it when people told me things they had no way of knowing about. I took a deep breath and leaned back a little so I could see his face. Zack gave me a slight smile. I managed a small smile in reply. His smile got a little bigger, and he leaned his head down so his forehead rested on mine. I closed my eyes and let myself relax for now. If Zack was so sure, then it couldn't hurt to stop worrying for a bit, right? I really wanted to believe him. I really did, but I wasn't sure it was a good idea to relax right now. Maybe in a few days, I'd feel a little more at ease. Now though, it was probably a good idea to stay on our guard.

"I really do have to go now." He told me quietly.

"Yeah." With a sigh I stepped back from him. "See you tomorrow."

Zack walked out the door with a small wave. I gave a raised my hand in reply as I watched him pull out and drive off. I closed the door with a sigh. Time to face my mother's interference and Jim's close minded views on everything.

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**A/N: Sorry for the wait. This chapter felt like I was digging it out of my head with a pair of tweezers - a bit at a time. You should be getting chapters more regularly now, though. Hopefully. FYI, reviews make me want to continue. They inspire me. *Hint Hint* Just to let you know...*trails off suggestively* well, you know how to do so! Get at it!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

**Geriana - yes, that information _is_ confidential, but never fear - your questions _will_ be answered in due time.**

**Renavatio - sorry, no awesome Briar-ness. I'm just excited that someone else here has read Tamora Pierce! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is not mine.  
**

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_Previously:_

_It was time to face my mother's interference and Jim's close minded views on everything._

Chapter Five

I walked down the hallway back into through the living room and into the kitchen slowly, thinking hard on Zack's reassurances. I really, truly, honestly wanted to believe him. He was right, after all. The chances of those creepy cult maniacs coming after us were slim, but still… I had to worry. If Zack was the sensible, logical one in our strange relationship, I was the one who worried illogically about things. I tended to worry about the things that mattered, I think, hopefully, and I tried not to worry about the things that didn't really affect me or the things that I couldn't control. It was a waste of time, and it was just completely pointless. I also tried to ignore the stupid, pointless things that didn't matter to me, with a bit of success. If they didn't matter to me, what was the point of worrying about them, right?

"Lara! Where are – oh, there you are. Come into the dining room so we can eat." My mother said with one of her cold, fake smiles.

"Yeah, just a second." Two could play at that game, and I'd learned from a pro – my mother herself. There were few who could tell that she was insincere, but I'd learned to tell the difference. It was the way I kept myself sane at home.

I quickly put away what was left of my homework things, noting absentmindedly that Zack had left his math book here _again_ and I'd better take it to him _again_. After some swift consideration, I decided to leave my backpack by the doorway to the stairs going up to the bedrooms. As I did so, I listened hard to the voices – the spoken voices, not the thought voices – incase there was any sign of Jim 'losing control' and throwing a fit over the food. All I could hear, however was my mother setting the table and serving the food. Jim was silent – a good sign. If he'd been talking, I'd have just skipped dinner and made do. It's not like it hadn't happened before. I really don't know why my mother put up with him. Actually, I'd a fair idea, one that I didn't care to dwell on too much. But right now, I couldn't help but think of the occasion I'd finally found out why Jim was still around. I didn't want to think about it, or the pictures that went along with it. Seeing as Jim was silent, I decided to risk dinner. I walked cautiously into the dining room. I soon became sad that I'd decided to have dinner tonight.

"Well, well, look who decided to join us." Jim sneered as soon as I walked into the dimly lit dining room. This room had always been my least favorite room; it had red carpeting, and with the poor quality of light, the carpet always looked dirty; it almost looked like the carpet should be white, only something red had been spilled on it. Maybe the painters had spilled red paint on it, and then decided to cover it up by covering the entire thing with red paint, which dried to look like blood: bright red fresh blood covering the entire floor. It was nauseating. I was in this room as little as possible.

"Jim! Don't talk like that. She _is_ my daughter, after all." My mother sounded like she was rehearsing for a play, with all the emotion she put into that sentence.

"What? It's not like she cares. Do ya, hon?" He leered at me. He acted like a pedophile. My mother had to be blind, not to see that.

I said nothing as I slowly sat down at the table. My mother stiffly handed me my plate, a disapproving look on her face. Whether it was directed at me or at Jim, I couldn't tell. But I knew that if I didn't get out of there quickly, I was in for it. I nodded my thanks to her, and began to eat as quickly as I could.

"Where's the fire, girl?" Jim demanded of me. "You're eating faster than a horse." He laughed at his own joke. I said nothing. He didn't deserve an answer to something so stupid. I continued to chow down a Jim hooted. Eventually, he calmed down.

"Well girl? Where's the fire, huh? Where's the fire?" He roared at me suddenly. I managed to suppress a flinch. It was definitely going to be one of those dinners.

"There isn't a fire, I'm just hungry." I replied without looking up at him.

"Hungry? You ought to be thankful we even feed you! You don't work! What've you done to deserve the food? Huh?!" His fist slammed down on the table, rattling the dishes and silverware. My mother and I jumped.

"I haven't done anything." I replied as meekly as I could. It was better to play along. He tended to lose steam quicker that way.

"Tha's righ'. We feed you fro' the goodness of our hearts. Y'oughta be grateful to us, and you're just shoveling th' food down you're throat." He leaned toward me from his place diagonally to the left of me across the table. I could smell the beer on his breath and tried not to gag.

"I am grateful for the food. I'm just so hungry I couldn't resist eating all this wonderful food." I told him as innocently as I could.

"Y'oughta be! We do all the work, an' _yew_ just sit there and look like butter'd melt in yer mouth and don't do nothing!" He roared at me, jumping up, with spittle flying from his mouth. I tried not to cringe away from him.

"I'm sorry." I replied demurely. I decided to take a quick glance at his thoughts so as to see where he was going with this. Well, well, he wanted me out of the room, did he? The thoughts he was thinking about my mother were enough to put me off my meal, but I knew that if I didn't finish it, after all that talk about how good it was, they'd be pretty mad.

"You'd better be sorry. Now finish up!" He glared at me as he slowly sat down. "Where's all that energy from b'fore, huh? Run outta steam, have ya girl? You'd better find some more, or else…" he left the threat hanging. I decided not to push it, and finished up as quickly as I could.

As soon as I put my fork on my clean plate, my mother grabbed it and took it into the kitchen to be cleaned. When she came back to find me still at my seat, she gave me a jerk of her head toward the stairway and a disapproving frown.

_'Get out of here girl. Can't she tell when Jim's in a bad mood?'_ Her face was scrunched up like she'd bitten into a lemon. I hurriedly ran out of the room and, grabbing my back pack, went to my room.

In my house, if you go up the stairs, you come to a long, tan carpeted hallway. My room is the second, and last, door on the right, a corner room. I like my room; it's hard to hear anything in it – the outside noise tends to cover up all the inside noise, and if you open one of my windows, you can climb outside onto a big oak tree, and, from there, get onto the roof. When I was little, I would go onto the roof for a long time every night, no matter how cold it was, and try to ignore the shouts that were coming from down stairs. As sound proof as my room is, it doesn't block out everything, and my parents would get into screaming fights. I got to know all the constellations visible from my roof – not that there were many. 'Course, eventually my father left, and then mother met Jim, and, well, the rest is history. I still like to stargaze, though. It's very soothing, being away from everything and just living in the moment. When you look up at the sky on a clear night, it's like looking into infinity. The emptiness of space, and the distance of the starts just gives me an unshakable amount of awe. It's so big; it really puts me and my problems into perspective. When I stargaze, I remember how insignificant all my problems are, and, knowing that, I can relax a little and forget about my problems. At least for a little while. At least until I get too cold or too tired to stay out here, awake, on my roof for any longer. Then, with a final look at the endless sky, I'd climb back inside and go to bed.

Not tonight, though. I'd seen, or heard, in my mother's mind that she was going to come check on me in a little bit, to make sure I was where I said I was going to be. She thought that I was going to sneak out, which, while tempting, wasn't something I'd do. The resulting grounding, confining me to my house, would be too much too bear. I never stayed in this house any longer than I could.

With a sigh, I dumped my bag by my door, where I'd be sure to see it, and flipped on the lights, revealing a room with mint green carpeting and two pale blue walls, one wall, the one separating my room and the room beside me, that was completely obscured by posters of the night sky and the moon, other astronomy stuff, and my book cases, and one faded lavender wall. The lavender wall had a leafless tree painted on it, and a short poem on it, one I didn't bother to look at now, and separated my room from the hallway. What little you could see of the obscured wall also had pale blue paint – not that you could tell. The insignificant twin sized bed in the corner, under the windows that looked out into the back yard, had a dark green comforter, a lighter shade of green sheets, and was neatly made. It was set up so that if I laid down on it with my head on the pillows, I could see outside and have a fairly good view of the sky. My night stand was a short brown little thing, and it had my alarm clock on it and space enough for whatever book I was reading at the time. It stood on the right side of my bed, between my bed and one of the walls that was just painted pale blue. My bed lay fairly near the long wall that had windows looking out into the back yard, and it's head was on the wall that was on the side of the house with the side yard beside it – the yard with my stargazing tree in it. This wall also had my dresser and my armoire sitting on it in between the two windows, one of which was slightly bigger than the other, and looked out onto my stargazing oak tree growing right outside of it. My door was on the lavender wall, near the obscured wall, and a dark green futon with a tall, thin lamp and a foot stool near it sat in the other corner.

I closed the door behind me and walked slowly to my bed. I didn't really want to go to bed, but I knew that I'd need to get some sleep tonight, otherwise Sara and her gang would think that they'd actually got to me.

I got ready for bed listlessly, always keeping an ear – mental and otherwise – out for my mother coming up the stairs. The last thing I needed was for her to confine me to my room or something.

I got into bed reluctantly. I still heard no noise from downstairs, and my mother and Jim's thoughts suggested that they were otherwise occupied. I kept my intrusions, that's what they were, really, intrusions, to a bare minimum. I had no desire to go to deeply into my mother's mind, let alone Jim's mind. I really didn't want to know what went on in his head. Talk about too much info.

I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling for who knows how long. Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep.

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dream Sequence--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_A young girl sits on a bench in a park, alone. She stares at the ground and swings her legs slowly front and back, front and back. She doesn't appear to be older than seven. Shoes crunch on the gravel path and the girl looks up hopefully._

_"Hey there, sweetie. Sorry I'm late." The speaker is a 30 year old man with pale brown hair and piercing green eyes. He grins at the little girl, and she beams up at him as if he's the best person in the world._

_"That's okay Daddy. I didn't mind waiting." She jumps off the bench and hugs him. He hugs her and stands up, holding on to her._

_"Really?" She nods. "Well then, I guess I don't need to go get ice cream for you to make up for it, do I?" He asks jokingly._

_"Ice cream! You have to go get ice cream, Daddy! I'm really mad at you!" She tries to be fierce, and he laughs at her expression._

_"Alright, alright!" He says as he puts her down, "Ice cream it is!" He holds out his hand, and she takes it, smiling up at him trustingly._

_"Ice cream! Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!" She chants as she skips along beside him._

_He laughs, long and hard, and suddenly, the same girl is sitting up in bed, looking around sleepily. She can hear voices shouting from downstairs, but she can't hear what is being said. She tumbles out of bed, and it's clear that she's grown up a little bit. She runs over to the door, her feet making no noise on the soft carpeting. She opens the door and peers hesitantly out into the hallway, as if she's afraid of what she might see. Once she's made sure that no one is there in the hallway, she sneaks down the hallway and tiptoes down the stairs. She looks out around the doorway into the kitchen and sees 'Daddy' and a woman fighting. The words are still indistinct, but it's apparent that they are completely incapable of agreeing._

_"Mama?" She asks sleepily. "Daddy?" The two of them immediately quiet. "Why are you fighting?" They glance at each other warily, trying to decide how to explain this to her._

_"We're not fighting, sweetie." The man finally answers unconvincingly. "Come on. Let's get you back to bed." He comes over and picks her up._

_"'K." She replies as she rubs her eyes sleepily. She yawns as she looks at the woman's pinched, unrevealing face. "Good night, Mama."_

_"Good night." Her reply is short and clipped. She pauses, and then goes on. "You," she says unwillingly. The man turns to look at her. "If that's the way you're going to be, fine. Don't expect me to just let you do what you want with this. I won't give up that easily."_

_"I know," he says curtly. "Just don't expect _me_ to lay down and let you walk all over me again. I did that once and look where that got me." His voice is cold, and the girl stirs in his arms in response to that._

_"Daddy? Something wrong?" She asks drowsily, and yawns._

_"No, sweetie. Nothing's wrong." He assures her after a long pause. "Nothing at all."_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------End of Dream Sequence----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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_**A/N: So...yeah. What do YOU think, huh? Why don't you tell me? Just click the stinkin' button, jeez! Review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that does not belong to me.  
**

_

* * *

Previously:_

_"No, sweetie. Nothing's wrong." He assures her after a long pause. "Nothing at all."_

Chapter Six

I awoke with a start, gasping for breath. Why I'd had that dream now, I don't know. Maybe it was because I was thinking about my living situation. That was probably it.

I didn't really want to think about what had happened after that, but it was all coming back to me, flowing into my consciousness like someone had turned on the fountain of memories. My father leaving, the divorce, learning that my mother had custody; all of it was coming back, whether I wanted it to or not. I closed my eyes and willed away the memories. It was no use; I couldn't help but think about them. I opened my eyes with a sigh. Why did this have to happen to me now? Couldn't my brain have done this to me when I wasn't undergoing a huge change? Obviously, my brain was just as stubborn as I was when it came to being itself. It made sense, I guess. My brain should be like me – it was me, basically, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to complain about it. It's the prerogative of a teenager to complain, isn't it? Yes, I decided resolutely, it is. A teenager is not only allowed to complain, he/she is _supposed_ to complain. It's expected for a teen to complain. So, I was only following the expectations of society when I complained about something I couldn't change. Come to think of it, I don't really understand why society is so upset whenever a teenager does something stupid. I mean, they throw it all over the media when someone does something stupid, it's practically shouting at us that this is what's expected for someone to do. I'd heard someone(1) say once that if the media stopped talking about the crime rate so much, the crime rate would probably go down. It made sense, kind of. When you say something to people all the time, they tend to start to do that something. Sometimes, the stupidity of people was exasperating. Other times, it was amusing. I yawned, it really was stupid…

The next thing I knew, my alarm clock was going off. _Did that really just happen? Have I actually understood; this weird quirk I tried to suppress, or hide, is a talent that could help me meet the wizard, if I make good? So I'll make good…_

"Nnn," I groaned, feeling for the sleep button. _Click_. The music turned off. I sighed in contentment, turned over, and went back to sleep.

Five minutes later, my alarm clock went off again: _When I meet the wizard, once I've proved my worth, and then I'll meet the wizard what I've waited for since, since birth! …_

Stupid alarm clock, I thought sleepily. It can't be time to get up yet. I turned over and, rubbing sleep from my eyes, looked hazily at the time. Then I scowled. It _was _time to get up. Where had the night gone? I could use a few more hours of sleep. I sat up and stretched. I sighed as I swung my feet out of bed and felt the chill of the air on my toes.

_…And this gift or this curse I have inside, maybe at last, I'll know why, when we are hand and hand, the Wizard and I!... _The music on my alarm clock was getting progressively louder. I turned back and turned it off. Then, I turned on my music, and, after some thought, put a different song on. I was getting bored of _The Wizard and I_ anyways. The music came on, and I smiled.

"Okay!" I said aloud. "Time to face another day." I loved mornings. They always seemed so … clean, exciting. The entire day lay ahead of you; an empty page for me to write on. The only part I didn't like about mornings was the getting up part. It was always so hard to make myself get out of my nice, warm, comfortable bed. It was always cold in my room in the mornings. I shivered as I walked hurriedly to my dresser and pulled out my clothes. I decided to put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved green shirt.

After I finished getting ready for school, I turned off my music and went downstairs as quietly as I could. I knew from experience that my mother would already be at work, and that Jim would probably still be upstairs in bed. I glanced into the kitchen and sighed with relief. My luck was in. Jim was still in bed. I grabbed my breakfast and realized that I'd left my back pack upstairs in my room. I snuck upstairs, and hurried down to my room as silently as I could. I grabbed my backpack and was almost to the stairs when I heard a noise coming from the master bedroom. I froze, listening hard. Hearing nothing else, I continued down the stairs.

I was just finishing breakfast when Jim appeared in the doorway. He gave me a long, hard stare before sneering at me and completely ignoring me. He went around me and got his breakfast without saying a word. It was unnerving. He'd never ignored me before, and I couldn't help but think that he somehow knew that I was a mutant. It was ridiculous; I knew that, but still… I decided to try out my theory by talking to him. Doing so would make him think about me, at least a little, and then I'd know if it was okay to be relieved that he was ignoring me or on the lookout for something he'd do.

"Good morning, Jim." I said pleasantly.

He twitched and returned the greeting politely enough, but his thoughts…they were anything but polite.

_'…stupid girl. I'll be glad when we're rid of her.'_ What?!? He continued on, oblivious to my rigid face and the stiffness of my body. _'…don't know why Susan fought so hard to get custody of the bitch; she should've just let the two of them go, and good riddance to the both of 'em.'_ He was thinking of my father and I when he said 'them.' What was he talking about? How were they going to get rid of me? Who were they? I didn't think he was talking about my mother when he said they; he didn't really have a picture for 'them', and people tended to picture the faces of people they knew when they were thinking about them. Since Jim didn't have a face that goes with his concept of 'them,' it implied that he hadn't met them. And 'they' were going to get rid of me. It was frightening.

I cleaned up my breakfast things on auto pilot, fretting about 'them' getting rid of me. Then I realized that he was probably referring to when I'd be leaving for college. I was a junior, after all; I'd be going on college visits and all of that stuff soon. Yeah. That was what he meant. I tried to concentrate on the relief that thought brought me and not the unease I still felt. A quick glance at the clock told me that Zack would be here soon to take me to school. I grabbed my things and went to the living room to wait where I'd be able to see outside and I wouldn't have to be near Jim. He really creeped me out.

I fidgeted as I waited for Zack to arrive. Time was creeping along again. Why did time go slowly when you wanted it to move fast, and speed by when you wanted to savor something? Zack could not arrive fast enough.

I sat there in the living room impatiently until I saw Zack pulling up in his red Forester. Thank goodness. I knew it'd only been 2 or 3 minutes, but it felt like 10 or 12 to me.

I waved to let him know I was coming, and walked out into the hallway leading to the front door. Jim was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, staring at me with absolutely no expression on his face. I tried to ignore him as I pulled on my shoes – sneakers today a part of me thought – and opened the door. As I was walking out thru the door, I caught a fragment of Jim's thoughts.

_'…Tonight…'_

I shivered and closed the door, heading out to the comfort of the person who actually cared about me.

* * *

(1) My English teacher.

**A/N: Sorry about the shortness - it didn't want to be any longer :( And, if I had, it wouldv'e been crappy... which would suck, really... so... yeah.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is not mine. But you know that now, don't you?

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**

_Previously:_

'…Tonight…'

_I shivered and closed the door, heading out to the comfort of the person who actually cared about me._

Chapter Seven

Once I was safely in Zack's car, I sighed in relief, leaning back against the seat. I'd never been so glad to go to school. It being a Friday had nothing to do with it this time. Most of the time, I was just glad to get out of the house. That was true of the situation now, as well, but really anywhere was better than the house, as long as Jim was there. You were never safe around him. Never. He was like a loose cannon; you never knew when he was about to go off.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked me quietly. I turned to see him looking at me, a look of worry on his face.

"Just Jim being Jim." I replied with a sigh. Zack nodded, accepting that. It's not like I hadn't told the truth. I told myself resolutely. Jim was being Jim, just a little more vigorously than usual today.

We rode the rest of the way to school in a comfortable silence. I stared out the window, looking at the scenery and not seeing any of it. I couldn't help but turn over that last thought I'd gotten from Jim. What was happening tonight? I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I couldn't stop worrying about it. He had sounded like he was anticipating something that most people would find unthinkable. A dark anticipation. That was what I'd gotten from him. Darkness. Why _did_ my mother keep him around? I just didn't understand.

We pulled into the parking lot at school.

"Brace yourself." I whispered. Zack shot me a look.

"Very dramatic, Lara. I'm sure it won't be that bad." He told me exasperatedly.

"That's not what you said yesterday." I told him in a sing-song voice. He shot me another exasperated look that said _chill, Lara._ I kept my expression carefully innocent. He didn't need to know that I was teasing him.

He shook his head as he pulled into an empty spot. I scowled as the thoughts of all the students near us became clearer to me. They were all gossiping about yesterday's revelation like a gaggle of geese. Honestly. Didn't these people have a life outside of school? Did they really have nothing better to talk about? I suppose I didn't really care all that much because of the whole mind-reading thing. It kind of took priority over gossip. I rolled my eyes at the thoughts of some people.

"Don't forget we're dating, Zack." I reminded him.

"I know. It's hard to forget right now." He answered me, annoyed. I giggled at the expression on his face. He gave me a mock scowl and got out of the car.

"Come on," he told me. "Time to face the music." I nodded in agreement.

The morning passed slowly. People, mostly girls, kept whispering about me. I could hear their condescending thoughts in my head all day long. It was so annoying, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tune them all out. My guess was that it was probably because of my annoyance. And I was so proud of myself yesterday, keeping out my mother's and Jim's thoughts. I guess I need more practice…

To challenge myself, I decided to focus on one person's thoughts. I even gave myself guidelines: they couldn't be in my current class, and they couldn't be in the class rooms next door; they had to be at least two class rooms away, preferably more. I was going to track someone the entire day without falling behind in class. After some thought, I decided to follow Kevin through his day, because we only had 7th bell together, and during seventh bell, I would spy on Sara, so as to avoid any unnecessary, annoying confrontation. That being decided, I swiftly searched the minds around me for Kevin. I did a few tricks with my mind to see if I could keep tabs on him, but not hear his thoughts – I didn't want to spy on him; he was too nice for that. All I wanted was to be able to see through his eyes, or at least know where he was, for the day, not hear his private thoughts. Heads were supposed to be private – I didn't really like being able to hear people's most intimate thoughts, although, it could come in handy. If I was very lucky, I'd never find out how handy it could be. I doubted that I would be so lucky; I never was.

When my lunch time finally rolled around, I stood with a sigh. Food… my sentiments were echoed by just about everyone in this lunch period. The few notable one's who didn't want to eat were either on a diet or anorexic or something. I focused slightly on Kevin to see where he was; I was interested to learn that he was as annoyed by the fact that the Spanish teacher was Chinese as was everyone else who had that teacher. I thought it was funny, but then, I wasn't taking Spanish. I didn't have to learn to speak Spanish from someone with a Chinese accent.

I walked to the cafeteria pretending that I didn't notice that nearly everyone I walked past was whispering about me. I looked around at the selections of food and tried not to gag. Fried foods drenched in grease, and old, dried out fruits or withered, wilted salads was all there was to choose from. Gross. I decided to get the fried food – it looked the most edible – and milk. As I stepped up to the cash register, I noticed a certain fury that had nothing to do with anything I, or anyone around me, was experiencing at the moment. As I walked to the table Zack was sitting at – thank god he had the same lunch as me; I didn't think I would've survived lunch these past few weeks without him – I considered what could cause this fury. I knew it wasn't me who was mad, and yet I still felt furious. I sat down, thinking hard. Was it Kevin who was mad? It was unlikely – I'd never seen Kevin frown, let alone get mad – but not impossible.

"Lara. Lara! Hey Lara, anyone home?" Zack waved his hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

"Yeah? I'm here, Zack. What's up?" I replied absentmindedly. I focused more on Kevin, but he was fine. He wasn't mad or furious or anything but bored. So where was that feeling coming from?

"Lara! Are you listening to me?" I looked up at Zack startled. He had an annoyed look on his face. I immediately felt guilty for not listening, but this anger was bothering me. Why couldn't I figure out where it was coming from?

"No," I replied guiltily, hunching my shoulders up and shrinking into them as if they could provide me some sort of protection.

"I said, I don't think that we talked this out very well. The whole dating thing." He clarified, noticing my confused expression. I nodded in agreement.

"It's not like we didn't have more important things to talk about last night." I told him. He gave me a slight smile, agreeing with me on that point. I shook my head sadly. "It's too bad that we didn't get to 'clarify' things until now. It'd have been a whole lot easier to have figured things out at the beginning of our relationship." I feigned sadness. I wasn't all that upset; it's just nearly everyone around us was trying to listen in on our conversation. Zack raised his eyebrows, confused. I glanced at the people around us, trying to tell him that people were eavesdropping on us. His mouth opened in a silent 'oh!' and then he schooled his face into a regretful look, as if agreeing with me.

"It certainly would have been easier to straighten things out when I was at your house last night." I lost the carefully constructed look of sad regret I had to a grimace. I hurriedly put my expression back on, but really. Boys. Must they all be like that?

"That would've been much easier." I propped my head on my left hand and sighed.

"It's too bad we were busy." Zack said somberly, trying to keep the amusement off his face.

"Mmmm." I agreed, raising my food to my mouth distractedly. I was listening to the thoughts around me, most of which were coming to the same conclusion. Humph. I kicked Zack under the table, and his eyes laughed at me. I can't believe he was enjoying this! I contemplated not talking to him today, and then decided that was juvenile. I thought for a few seconds and came upon a more fun idea.

"Maybe we can work it out tonight." I suggested innocently. I felt the shock and then the sudden excitement from everyone around us. They all waited in anticipation for what we would say next. "Didn't you say there was a movie you wanted to see? We could talk then."

"Yeah," he agreed with me. "It's better to work these things out in private." I kicked him under the table again, and then finished off my food. As fun as it was to listen to the thoughts of some of the people around us, other people had their minds in the gutter. I focused on keeping those people out of my head. I had a feeling we were going to regret using such implications in our speech. I could practically feel the eyes of people staring at me, and I could hear what they were thinking – which was gross. I suppressed a shudder. I would never do _that_ with _any_ of them. Never. Never ever.

_Ding!_ The bell rung and everyone had similar feelings of regret that lunch was over – for varying reasons. Personally, I was sad, because now I had to go to Trig, and that was definitely my hardest class throughout the entire day. I didn't want to know the reason everyone was sad. I focused harder on keeping their thoughts out of my head, but it was difficult. They were so loud.

I went to trig slowly, trying to postpone my fate. It didn't work. No matter how many times I had tried willing the bell to ring, or not to ring, it still rang faithfully. What was the use of having awesome powers when it didn't make a difference in how easy trig was? How annoying.

Trig passed slowly. It seemed like every time I glanced at the clock, it hadn't moved, yet I know that time was passing – it never stopped. I would be very, very scared if time did stop. I mean really stop, not what they said Professor Xavier could do. They said he could stop time, but what he was really doing was changing the slowing time down, but staying the same speed himself. In order to move, someone needs space to move through and time to move in. So, time never stops. It just moves slowly when you want it to move fast, and fast when you want to take your time.

Finally 7th bell rolled around. True to my agreement with myself, I stopped keeping tabs on Kevin (I mean who wants to live through health class twice, even if it was from a different perspective) and kept tabs on Sara. I didn't think that she would plan anything too early in the bell, but you never know; she'd probably started planning "revenge" the minute Zack and I walked away from her yesterday. I still wasn't to clear as to why she felt she needed revenge; it's not like she'd ever said anything about liking Zack before, so I don't know where she got the idea that I'd 'betrayed her.' She didn't know that I could read minds, and it's not like I always had been able to! After pondering this conundrum for the better part of ten minutes, I decided that some things were better left unknown, especially when it came to how people thought. And they called me weird. _I_ didn't get offended when someone didn't automatically assume that I had first claim on a boy, just because I was me. (That sentence didn't even make sense…) I didn't think it was possible for someone to be that conceited, but I was wrong before. I realized that I was complaining in much of the same way Sara was, and stopped.

I don't think I had ever been so startled by the bell ringing than I was right then. I'm pretty sure I jumped clear out of my chair. Shoot, shoot, shoot. I hurriedly shoved my stuff into my backpack and got up, only to find that I was too late. Everyone else was gone, except for me and three of the stupidest, most dense, lame, annoying boys I knew. I'm sure there were more aggravating boys out there, but I couldn't think of any at the moment.

"Hey Lara," the leader, Mark, I think, or Mike, or Matt, or something said.

"Hello," I replied shortly; it would have been rude not to respond.

"You should totally go on a date with me, Lara. I'm sure I can do better than Zack." I didn't miss the double meaning of his words, and, surprisingly, neither did his friends.

I pretended to consider it.

"No." I told him curtly. "Excuse me." I tried to move around them to get to the door. Imagine my surprise when they blocked me off.

"That's too bad, Lara. Are you sure you thought about it enough?" The first guy, I'll call him Mark, asked with a leer. His thoughts were coming in loud and clear. He had a … vivid imagination. My stomach rolled, and I tried not to heave. As if I would _ever…ugh._ Gross!

"I'm sure I don't need any more time to think about it, thanks though." I told him with as much false cheer as I could. "I'm sure no one else would consider it either. _Excuse me._" I said with as much force as I could muster. I went to move forward, and I would've left only Mark/Mike/Matt grabbed my arm. I turned to look at him. He glared at me, furious.

"You're gonna pay for that." He glowered, his lip curling up over his teeth. I would've laughed if I weren't so mad. He wasn't nearly as scary as Jim was, or my mother, or Zack, when he put his mind to it.

"Let go." I said as coldly as I could.

"Didn't you hear me? I said you're gonna pay for that!" He squeezed my arm hard enough to bruise. I looked pointedly at the place where his hand touched my arm.

"Let go." I repeated. "You'll be sorry if you don't."

"Hur, hur, hur," He and his friends laughed stupidly.

"You're going to make us sorry?" He sneered, looking over at his friends for support. "Whatcha gonna do, huh?" My body tensed. They laughed, thinking it was because I was scared of them; they couldn't know that I had to put up with a guy like them on a daily basis, or that it was that guy I was afraid of.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" I asked sweetly. I heard the hesitation in their thoughts. They were really just a bunch of bullies. Pathetic.

"Sure," he exaggerated the u, drawing it out. "Like _you_ could do anything."

I rolled my eyes at his bravado. Then I pulled my arm pack and punched him square in the nose. His grip on me instinctively loosened, and I yanked my arm free. He put his free hand up to his nose, and it came away bloody. Ha! Serves him right. I tugged futilely at my arm, trying to break his grip on it. It didn't work. What it did do was serve as a reminder that he did, in fact, have a grip on me.

His two friends seemed concerned for his well being.

"Mark, you okay?" One of them asked nervously. If he'd been a butterfly, he'd have been fluttering around this Mark guy. Since he wasn't a butterfly, the best I can do is to say he almost hovered. Almost because it was like he was afraid to get close to Mark. Or maybe he was worried that he'd make Mark look weak if he tried to help him.

"Of course I'm okay, you idiot!" He snapped back at his minion. Then he squeezed my arm even tighter and glared at me. "You're really gonna get it now, girlie." He shoved me backwards, and while I tried to regain my balance, lunged at me.

It was right then that I knew that, despite what people said, it had been a good idea to make Zack teach me to fight. I knew I'd have to beat off a bunch of bozos someday, and I didn't want to play Little-Miss-Helpless every time some stupid idiot got it into his head that I was an easy target. So I knew how to throw a punch, and how to duck (the first lesson), and I knew (by word of mouth, mostly) where a guy's weakest place is. So I went for that place. Perhaps I was too obvious in my actions because he dogged it. I was losing pretty badly (I had a bruised cheekbone and a bloody lip, whereas they had only a bloody nose, and, of course, I was outnumbered. You tend to be losing when you're outnumbered) when I remembered that I could read minds. Then I realized that that would give me an advantage. So, I looked into his mind, only to find that he was concentrating on the fight! I did a little mental happy dance. He wouldn't consciously think about his next move – people didn't think about walking, after all – but he did subconsciously, and that's what I used. I had to concentrate more to 'hear' these thoughts – they weren't thought, really, more like automatic reactions to me and to his friends – but it was worth it. I found myself to be one step ahead of him, and I was able to successfully keep out of his (and his friends, who, as I was beginning to find, were more of a show of brute strength than anything else) grasp, which would've been disastrous.

I spoke (or thought) too soon. The next thing I knew, one of Mark's goons had gotten behind me and grabbed me. Shoot. I looked disbelievingly over my shoulder. And then looked up. And up. And up. This idiot was thick, tall, and had a face like a boulder.

"Thought you'd get away with it, didn't you girlie?" Mark sneered through his bloody nose, and I could see the blood on his teeth. Gross.

"We can't let you get away now, can we boys? Not after you disrespected me." His words were thick, but understandable. "We've gotta teach her a lesson don't we? We can't let her get away with disrespect, can we boys?" They all laughed like his words were hilarious. Mark rubbed his sleeve under his nose. Gross, but at least he didn't look like he'd dunked his face in red paint any more. There wasn't much improvement to his looks, though. If anything, I'd say his looks got worse.

He looked at me, slowly licking his lips, and his thoughts became graphic and all around disgusting. I quickly tuned him out. I didn't need to hear this perverted idiot think those kinds of things about me. Definitely not.

His gaze settled on my chest, and his thoughts became so loud I had trouble tuning them out. He was practically shouting them at me, and it was giving me a head ache. His mouth turned upward in a lewd smile.

"We'll start here."

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**A/N: Sorry for the wait. I was on vacation. In Disney World! Sooooo I didn't really think about this while I was there. I mean, come on! It's Disney World! Would you think about writing when you could be going on Space Mountain or something? Honestly. **

**Please, please, please review! They make me really happy, and they inspire me to keep writing! You know you want to click the button. Go on, click it! There you go...  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is not mine. Duh.

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_Previously:_

_"We'll start here."_

Chapter Eight

"I blame you, you know." I said to Zack sourly.

"Me? Why?" Zack feigned innocent surprise.

"Because, Zack, if you hadn't implied that we were 'doing it,'" I made the air quotations angrily, "those idiots wouldn't have thought I was an 'easy lay,'" again with the air quotes "and they wouldn't have come after me!" I huffed, crossing my arms angrily.

"Advil kicked in yet?" Zack asked after a short pause.

"No." I told him sourly. I ached all over. My lip had only just stopped bleeding, and my upper arms throbbed to the rhythm of my heart.

Another pause.

"You went along with it."

"You started it, so it's all your fault."

"I didn't think anyone would try to do anything to you!" Zack said defensively, his hands coming up in a placating gesture. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have said anything!"

"Think next time!" I shouted, smacking my hand down on the couch. That arm gave an extra hard throb, and I winced. I should not have done that.

"Next time? You think there'll be a repeat of this?"

"I don't know! I can't see the future!" I said hotly.

"You make it sound like I can." He pointed out calmly. It was so annoying how he could take everything so calmly, especially when I was freaking out about the same exact thing.

I didn't say anything, since I knew he was right – I was making it sound like he could see the future – but that didn't stop me from grumbling to myself until I eventually lapsed back into silence.

The silence grew until it was deafening; until I was nearly suffocated from lack of air, the silence was that big.

"I can't just tell everyone that we aren't sleeping together, Lara. No one will believe me." He reminded me eventually.

"I _know_," I said irritated, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it, does it?"

"No," Zack said, and paused. I could hear the humor in the pause, like he'd thought of something funny to tease me with, and I braced myself for the worst. Even if I knew he was teasing, I still tended to over react, and I guess that's what he found so funny. "It's not like they were completely wrong, you know. After all, I have slept with you."

"What!" I shrieked, jumping off the couch. It was a good thing Jim and my mother weren't home yet. They'd feel obligated to come in to see why I was shrieking, and I wanted to figure out what in the world Zack was talking about. "Zack! What are you talking about?" What if he'd come back to the house at night and snuck in? What if he'd slipped upstairs into my bedroom and, and, and… wait.

He was laughing. _Zack_ was _laughing._ _Laughing!_

"Why are you laughing!" I demanded.

He held up a hand, the other one covering his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"I was referring to the sleepovers we had as kids, but if you want to take it that way, be my guest." He said after he'd gotten control over himself. My mouth opened and closed uselessly for a minute as I tried to find the words to tell him how funny that was NOT!

"I don't think I'm going to talk to you for a while." I said indignantly after I recovered from his 'joke' and I turned my back on him with a stamp of my foot and crossed my arms over my chest.

I heard Zack get up from the couch and come to stand beside me, but I turned away from him. I knew I was being childish, but I was too upset to care at the moment. I heard him sigh exasperatedly, and then his arms encircled my waist and he sat down, pulling me with him.

"Zack!" I complained.

"I thought you weren't talking to me." He said in my ear, laughing a bit.

"I'm not." I grumbled. He'd gotten me, gotten me good.

He just laughed, as if he knew what I was thinking. Well, I knew that he couldn't read minds, but he'd always been able to tell what I was thinking. I don't know if it was just that easy to read my face or if he just knew me that well.

"Right."

I decided not to answer him. We were silent for a while, and then I gave in and leaned back against him – he was just too comfortable to resist. He settled me against him and I could feel him mulling over something. He had this habit of grinding his teeth when he was thinking hard about something or about something he that worried or angered him. Right now, while his teeth were grinding up a storm, I had a feeling that it was all three.

"What happened?" He asked finally. I knew instantly what he was talking about. What else could he mean?

"Those three idiots stopped me as I was leaving 7th bell." I said eventually. "I'm sure you can guess what they wanted. I told them no, obviously, and they took offense from that. They tried to change my mind and wouldn't let me go, so I punched the guy who held me. He got mad and tried to hit me back." I paused and sighed. "Then, that massive guy got behind me and grabbed me, and then idiot #1 went all perverted, and then you showed up suddenly – thank you, buy the way – and beat the crap out of them, and then we came here."

Zack sighed, releasing some of the tension he'd been holding in since we'd left school. Seeing Zack back there was relieving, even though I'd never seen him so angry. The expression on his face…I shuddered. I didn't want to think about it.

"It's alright. It's alright, Lara." He crooned softly into my ear. "They can't hurt you. I won't let them. It's alright." The last part was almost a whisper. He thought I was afraid of those idiots. I turned sideways so he couldn't see my face as easily. No, that's not true. He couldn't see my face when I was facing away from him. I was just more comfortable when I was sitting like this.

"It's not _them_ I'm afraid of, Zack. It's the thought that people would do something like that. I just – I just don't understand how – _why_ they would do that." I shivered again, and curled as close to him as I could. He didn't say anything for a long time, and I got the feeling he was trying to figure out how best to answer me.

"I don't know either, Lara. People like that, they just don't think about the pain they cause other people." He stopped, and said almost too soft for me to hear, despite my close proximity to him, "or they just don't care."

I froze, shocked. _Don't care?_ How can they not care? How can they live with themselves? They – they just – what – how – _why?_ Why? Why would they do that? I couldn't think straight, and my body was shaking. I felt like I was in an earthquake, but I knew it was just me. Zack's arms tightened around me and he pulled me even closer to him – if that was even possible. I put my arms around him and hid my face in his chest. My eyes squeezed shut of their own accord, and I took a shaky breath in an effort to calm myself down. The effect of this effort was minimal, barely noticeable, and almost nonexistent. It didn't really help. What did help was when Zack started to rub my back. His other arm stayed tight around my waist, but he only needed one hand. I could feel myself relax more and more with every second that was passing. Eventually I was completely relaxed in his arms. It angered me sometimes that Zack could do this to me seemingly without effort. Other times, like now, I was glad. It was nice to have someone who understands me during times, like now, that I was freaking out or upset or mad. It made my life a whole lot easier.

I sighed in contentment and smiled, snuggling into Zack. He relaxed his hold on me and let both of his arms wrap themselves around my waist.

"Feeling better?" He asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Very much so." I told him contentedly.

"It's hard to keep up with your mood swings, Lara." He told me, and I leaned back so I could see his face clearly. He smiled at the look of confusion on my face, his eyes showing the relief he was feeling because I wasn't freaking out anymore. At least, that's what I assumed the relief was from. "One minute you're freaking out, and not about the fact that three of your classmates tried to take advantage of you, but about the fact that they would. Next thing I know, you're completely relaxed and apparently completely cool about that same fact." He shook his head, smiling all the while. "Sometimes, I just don't understand you."

I stuck out my tongue at him, causing him to laugh. Well, at least he was laughing, not trying to convince himself that it'd be a bad idea to go back and find those goons and finish what they'd started. I didn't like that thought, so I stopped thinking about it.

"How are you feeling?" Zack inquired, remnants of his laughing fit still on his face.

"Fine." I said mystified as to why he would need me to reaffirm that.

"Advil's started to word?" He pressed, a smile playing about his lips.

"Yeah. Why?" I was still in the dark.

"Well that's good, because I would feel horrible about taking you out tonight if you didn't feel well." He told me smugly.

"What?" I complained. "You can't be serious."

"Sure I can." Zack told me, grinning at my discomfort. "You told everyone we were going on a date tonight, so I," he pointed to himself, "need to take you," he pointed to me, "on a date. Right?"

"Wrong!" I said as forcefully as I could. "All I said was that we were getting together tonight. I never said anything about a date." I knew I was whining, but I didn't care.

"And since everyone thinks we're dating, they all think it's a date, and so I need to take you on one." Zack laughed at my indignant expression. "Stop complaining, Lara. This one's all your fault." He gave me a gentle push, signaling me to get up, so I stood up and tried to think of a clever comeback. He stood up and stretched languidly.

"I don't see why you're bothering." Zack looked at me inquiringly. "It's not a real date until you ask me out." I huffed, pouting a bit. He looked thoughtful at that. Uh oh.

"You're right." Oh no. He reached out and pulled me into his arms. My hands were on his chest, one of his arms was around my waist again, preventing my escape, and the other was under my chin, forcing me to look at him. He gave me one of the smiles he only showed me, and I blushed.

"Will you go out with me?" He breathed, gently smiling that same smile, only slightly more intensely, at me. I blinked several times before I answered.

"Um. Y-yeah. I'd like that." I managed to get out, my voice as quiet as his. His smile got wider, and I saw how worried he'd been that I'd refuse. Like I could ever refuse him once he'd pulled out that smile. That should probably worry me, but I couldn't bring myself to care right now.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He whispered, and then leaned down and pressed his lips gently to mine. Oh. It took me a second to respond, but when I did, I was gone.

I was now completely helpless to Zachary Bolte.

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**A/N: What did you think? Tell me pleeeease. *puppy dog eyes* Wont you tell me?**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: If I owned X-Men, I wouldn't be writing a fanfic.

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_Previously:_

_I was now completely helpless to Zachary Bolte._

Chapter Nine

No. Absolutely not. No way. Nuh-uh. Noooooo. I closed the doors to my armoire in disgust. Why couldn't I find anything to wear? I felt like crying. My closet was limited. I hadn't cared before, but now it was suddenly very, very important that I looked nice. And not just nice; I needed to be pretty, beautiful, incredible. It was infuriating that one boy could have this effect on me. Or at least it would be, if I could find it in myself to be mad at him.

I turned away from my pitiful wardrobe, pulling my hair in an effort to make everything better. I turned back and opened the doors to my armoire. It was still the same. I slammed the doors shut, turned away and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Nothing would get better if I was panicking. I decided that I was going to turn back around, close my eyes and open the doors, and then wear the first things I pulled out. I cautiously opened my eyes after doing so, and then breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't so bad. I actually liked it, something I'd have thought impossible after the excruciating past forty-five minutes.

I hurriedly put on the clothes, and stood back so I could see myself in the mirror over my dresser. I had on a black mini-skirt and a forest green long-sleeved shirt. After a few seconds debate, I pulled on some black leggings under the skirt; it _was_ October, after all, and the nights were starting to get chilly this time of the year.

"Okay," I whispered to myself. I pulled down my skirt and smoothed down my hair. Deciding that wasn't enough, I quickly ran my brush through it, and then put my hair up into a half ponytail. "Okay." I repeated. I needed different earrings, though. I reviewed my options swiftly. I eventually decided on my thin gold hoop earrings. I gave myself a final look and then glanced at the clock. I had five minutes left to spare. Not bad. I settled my hair the way I wanted it to lay, and, grabbing my purse, left my room.

I went downstairs and hesitated. I didn't really want to talk to my mother and Jim, but I wanted a second opinion, and I probably needed to tell my mother that I was going out. I just wished there was a way I could do that without Jim finding out. I hadn't forgotten that snippet I'd gotten from him this morning. Although, going out was probably safer than staying in. It might actually be better if I let him know that I'm not going to be in this evening. Well, either way, he was going to find out. I'd just have to hope for the best. I took a deep breath and walked into the living room.

"What do you think?" I asked as if there was nothing to be worried about. There _was_ nothing to be worried about. My mother and Jim looked up from where they were seated on the couch.

"You look nice, Lara." My mother replied. "What's the occasion?"

"Nice? Just nice?" I groaned. "That is _not_ what I was going for at all."

"You wouldn't believe me if I said you looked lovely, now would you?" She told me, slightly annoyed.

"Lovely." I looked over myself again. "Really?"

"Really. What's the occasion?"

I was about to reply when the doorbell rang. I spun around and ran to the door. It occurred to me that I was getting better at blocking out people's thoughts. I hadn't caught one of Jim's or my mother's thoughts. I'd be more proud of myself if I wasn't so nervous.

"I have a date with Zack." I said over my shoulder towards my mother's footsteps as she followed me down the hall.

"Zack? When did this happen?" She sounded annoyed. I didn't bother looking at her to double check her mood.

"Yes. This afternoon." I answered her as I opened the door. Shoes! I realized suddenly. Shoot. I'd have to decide quickly.

"Hello Mrs. Huntley." I heard Zack greet my mother politely.

"Hi Zack. Lara has just told me that the two of you have a date tonight." She told him, the normal friendliness toward him was replaced with a slight disapproval. Strange and unusual, but not completely unexpected.

"That's right." He replied, calm as always. "You'll probably want different shoes." He told me as I was reaching for my clogs. I frowned at him mildly and grabbed my boots. Zack looked like he was going to say something, but my mother interrupted him before he could say anything more.

"When were you planning on telling me that the two of you were dating?" My mother's voice was frosty.

"I just did tell you." I reminded her sweetly, lacing up my boots. I twitched as I heard the anger in her thoughts. So it wasn't only my emotions that effect how much I hear. Interesting.

"I mean," she stressed the words, as if that would help her get her point across. "When did you start dating?"

"Today." I replied nonchalantly.

"Oh." It almost sounded like she was relieved. Why would she be relieved? I was tempted to peek at her thoughts, but decided not to. For one thing, I didn't really want to know what my mother was thinking, for another, it was rude to invade someone's privacy like that. People expect their heads to be private after all.

I stood up with a sigh.

"Ready?" Zack asked me softly. I nodded. I was getting nervous again, a feeling I had lost while arguing with my mother. "Let's go. I'll see you later, Mrs. Huntley, Jim." He put his arm around my waist, and led me out to the car.

Zack took me to dinner at a nice little restaurant down by the town square. It wasn't expensive, a fact I was thankful for because I didn't think he would let me pay for my own food, and there was no way I would let him pay twenty bucks for my food alone. It was nice, just being with him and not having to worry about what time Jim was going to get back, or what someone was going to say about us; it was not fun having to hear your name about fifty times on the way to first bell because of something that seems perfectly natural to you, but is apparently not something you should be doing, and you have no idea why not, but that's "just the way things are." Just then, Sara walked in with her latest boyfriend, Nate. I always felt sorry for her boyfriends; she'd date them for a few weeks, let them buy her stuff, and then dump them. I didn't want to know what else she did. Spotting us, they made their way through the tiny room to stand by our table.

"Hey you two!" Sara squealed in apparent delight, almost like the last two days hadn't happened.

"Hey Sara," Zack responded tautly.

"What's with the faces guys? And why didn't you tell me you were coming here tonight? We could've doubled." She pouted and I was more confused than ever. Wasn't she furious? Did the last two days happen or not? I glanced at Zack and saw that he was just as confused as I was.

"Aren't you mad?" I asked cautiously. This kind of madness might be contagious.

"What? About you two dating? No! I was just upset that you two hadn't told me. I thought we were friends. Why didn't you tell me?" Sara managed to sound sad.

_'Probably because they didn't want to have the scene that happened yesterday happen.'_ That was Nate. I glanced briefly at him, and then looked back at Sara, trying to keep a straight face. I had just gotten the best idea from him. Thank you Nate!

"Well, we weren't sure you'd be okay with it, you know? I guess I was just scared to tell you." I said as innocently as I could manage.

She sighed, her hand going to her chest as her face went into the classic 'Awwww!' look and she seemed to be tearing up a little.

"You are such a good friend!" She leaned over and put her hand on my shoulder so our faces were level. She looked me straight in the eye as she said "I am totally cool with it." She hugged me and then turned toward Zack, leaning on the table with one hand and – Did she just pull down the neckline of her already-too-revealing shirt? A look at Zack told me that yes, she had. He was now getting a – I didn't want to think about it, so I kicked him. He gave a slight jerk and glanced at me in confusion. I had no idea what my face looked like, but it must have gotten the message to him, because he looked up at Sara's face instead of her chest.

"You two make such a cute couple!" She squealed. Loudly. People were staring. It was getting annoying.

"Thanks, Sara, really, but I think your server is waiting for you. If you want to eat you'd better hurry up." She did that 'Aw!' thing again and hugged me. Again! I was beyond irritated with her. Just leave already!

She did go eventually, her boyfriend trailing behind her like a lost puppy-dog. I hadn't heard Nate say anything the entire time he was standing there, and Sara hadn't even tried to include him in the conversation. I guess that just showed how much she cared about him.

I waited until she had gotten far enough that I didn't think she could hear us anymore before I kicked Zack again. He jumped.

"What?" He asked.

"You were staring at her chest, that's what." I said sharply.

"Didn't you already kick me for that?" He asked cautiously. Hearing the caution in his voice made me happy, in an angry kind of way. I kicked him again.

"No. That was to make you stop, the second, because you _were_, and the third because you didn't deny it." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "Well?"

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Spill."

"It's embarrassing."

"Don't make me kick you again."

"I was just thinking," he paused, and I narrowed my eyes in a silent warning, "that you'd look hot if you were wearing that instead of her." He mumbled the last few words, but I still heard him.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I wasn't sure I wanted an honest answer.

"Nothing!" He seemed surprised that I asked. You'd think that having two sisters would clue him into the fact that girls constantly worried about how they looked in front of the boys they like. Maybe it was just because I hadn't ever expressed such a concern before, but before, we weren't dating.

"I like what you're wearing better than that." He gave a slight nod of his head in the direction Sara and Nate had gone.

"You look nice tonight. More than nice." He added quickly, seeing my expression. "You look really pretty." And then he smiled at me, completely honest with me, so I guess I could forgive him. I told him so, and he looked relieved. So I asked him why. He told me that I was scary when I was angry, and anyone in their right mind would do whatever they could to avoid it. I don't believe him, though. I think it's just because I've known him for forever. Besides, it's Zack who is scary when he is angry. I decided not to mention it, though. It's not vital, after all. And also, it's really fun to be there when whoever he's mad at practically pees his/her pants.

Luckily for me, the rest of dinner passed relatively uneventfully. The one blip in the radar was when I mentioned that I was glad Zack wasn't Edward Cullen. Seriously though, even with the whole practically perfectness he pulls off constantly – practically, because he doesn't write poetry (not that we've seen), and in order to be completely perfect, a boy needs to write poetry and play an instrument. Edward Cullen only does one of those things – because, seriously, who wants to see their boyfriend being flirted with at every turn? I always feel sorry for Bella whenever I read those books. Not only does she have the insane amount of bad luck required to keep the plot moving, but her boyfriend is flirted with constantly.

When we left the restaurant, instead of leading me back to his car like I expected, Zack pulled me in the direction of the park down the street.

"We're going to the park?" I asked, completely happy for once.

"Yeah," he grinned at me, "there's something I want to show you."

I laughed and reached out and took his hand. A few guys rounded the corner up ahead and we stood to the side to let them pass. Instead, they stopped right in front of us. A voice spoke from behind.

"Zachary Bolte?"

* * *

**A/N: I'd meant to make the chapter longer, but this was such a good place to stop. Now that we've reached this point, the plot should take off, unless it's being an idiot like it has been lately. Hopefully, if all goes well, I should be updating quicker. No guarantees, though.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep doing this? You all know that I don't own X-Men, don't you?**

_

* * *

Previously:_

_"Zachary Bolte?"_

Chapter Ten

Zack turned slowly toward the tenor voice, one which would have a nice sound to it if the speaker put an effort into it. He didn't though; I think even that guy saying 'have a nice day' would come out threatening. He and all the other men with him were wearing black. Black shirts, black pants, black coats with silver buttons that gleamed out at you like eyes in the dark cave where a monster was waiting for you. It was beyond creepy. It was – I don't know what it was. All I know is that on anyone else, the outfit would've looked colorless, but good. On these guys it was threatening.

"Yes?" He asked cautiously, pulling me closer to him. I frowned in concentration – like I said, that guy gave me the creeps – and tried to read his mind. Nothing; not even the interference I got from Zack whenever I tried to read his mind. I tried the other guys, but it was still more nothing. It's like they weren't there or something. I mean, even though I couldn't read Zack's mind, I could still feel his mind. With these guys, I couldn't even do that.

"We've received a tip that you might be a mutant, and we've come to confirm that." The guy who seemed to be the spokesperson spoke as if he was a police officer and Zack was accused of committing.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Zack stated, but I got the feeling he knew exactly what they were talking about because he took a step back, and I felt _something_ from his body seep into the ground. I'm guessing it was his power looking for some kind of plant to do – something. Apparently the spokesperson thought so as well.

"I think you know exactly what we mean." He pulled a black rectangle from his pocket – it looked like some sort of game system – and flipped it open.

"Girl," he was obviously addressing me, but, seriously, why did everyone have to use that tone of voice with me? It's like I don't mean anything, and it drives me nuts. "You'd better leave," he continued, oblivious to my anger. Zack wasn't though; his hand around my shoulders squeezed in warning. I didn't need to be told to be careful; these guys gave me the heebie-jeebies. "You won't want to be here – no." He corrected himself, and I felt the sinking feeling that accompanies fear in my stomach. Bullies, those I could fight without fear, but put some random guys that seem to be ten years older than me and could be part of that stupid cult that's killing mutants, and, even though Zack was here – something that usually calmed me – I was scared out of my wits.

"No," the guy said again, "you should stay here, mutant. We'll get rid of both of you at the same time and save ourselves some trouble."

With that, the rest of the guys standing there surrounded us and tried to separate us. They hadn't moved very far when the grass and a few other plants grew to be about ten feet tall and grabbed the stinking murderers. The stupid box-game-thingy fell to the ground, but before I could grab it, Zack was towing me away from the scene. Acting on instinct, I held out my hand and willed. The box flew through the air to my hand. I stared in shock.

"Come on!" Zack continued to pull me along, understandably impatient. "That won't hold them for long." It was true. I could hear cursing and the unmistakable sound of plants being ripped. "We need to get to the park before that."

Understandable. There were some huge trees in the park that were probably better weapons for Zack than grass.

After a few minutes of intense sprinting, hearing the unmistakable sounds of pursuit behind us, we made it to the park, quickly moving off the beaten path to the darker, safer, and quieter woods.

"I assume that's not how you wanted to show me your power?" I panted, trying to lighten the tension.

"That's right." He was slightly less out of breath than I was, but still managed a smile. We were quiet for a while, listening for the men. They weren't long in coming. Surprisingly, they stopped short of entering the park. There was a brief debate as to whether they wanted to enter the home field of one of the targets. I had to suppress a laugh when I heard that. They were scared of a couple of teenagers.

"Enough!" It was Spokesperson. "They have the M.I.D. We know they went in here. We have to get it back, so we're going in." I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to suppress the giggles when I heard that. Were they seriously using those lines? It was so cheesy.

The stupid brainwashed-cult-people entered the park a short time later. Zack watched them go with a slightly anticipating look. I felt sorry for those idiots until I remembered that they wanted to kill us for something we can't control. How stupid is that?

I didn't have to wait long for Zack to get started. A few minutes after they entered the woods I heard a particularly girlish shriek, and they all came running out. And I mean all of them. The branches and roots of the trees were literally reaching out to grab those men, tangling in their black coats and ripping out the seams. It was enough to make me laugh. I guess they hadn't had someone fight back for a long time. It good for them to be scared – a little respect was good for them, and if they were even more frightened of Zack and I now, well, so much the better. As the last one stumbled out of the woods, I heard him curse in a very familiar voice. Cold washed over me as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water on me. He stepped into a patch of moonlight, and I recognized him instantly.

"Zack," I breathed. He looked at me questioningly. I pointed wordlessly. His gaze went towards where I was pointing. I heard a sharp intake of breath and a hastily cut-off curse.

The man was Jim.

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**A/N: Sorry for the shortness. I was going to write more, but this was just too good of a spot to stop to keep on writing. XD**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: the X-Men do not belong to me. Duh!**

_

* * *

Previously:_

_The man was Jim._

Chapter Eleven

I stood there in shock as the men gathered and left, heading down towards the restaurant Zack and I'd eaten at. It was too much to wrap my mind around at the moment. I knew that Jim didn't like mutants, but to try and kill them all? Why? And Zack, how did they know he was a mutant? And, just why? I didn't understand.

"Lara?" Zack asked me, worry evident in his voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no, I just, I mean, why?" I couldn't get a coherent sentence out. Zack reached out and pulled me into a hug.

"I don't know." He told me. Strangely, that was reassuring. It made me feel better to know that someone else didn't understand why people killed other people. I squeezed him tightly briefly, and then pulled back so I could see him.

"What do I do with this?" I asked.

"With wh – oh. How did you get this thing?" He asked me, smirking slightly for some reason.

"Like this." I said and held my hand out, causing the game/box/thing to fly to me again. Zack raised his eyebrows in surprise, but otherwise said nothing.

"Do you think it's safe to go now?" I asked softly.

"If you think that I'm taking you home, you'd better think again." Zack said sharply. "There's no way I'm taking you back to the house when your mother's boyfriend is going to go back to eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already heading back, just in case I was stupid enough to take you back there."

"Don't you mean 'In case you were stupid enough to want to go back there.'?" I asked. He looked at me, startled, took in the fact that my arms were crossed over my chest, and hastily agreed.

"Good." I said. "Not that I do want to go back, but where do I go then? And we probably can't go to your place, either, you know." He nodded in agreement.

"Your father," Zack said slowly, "is he in town?"

"I think so. Let me check." I pulled my cell out of my purse and scrolled through the contacts list until I found the one I wanted. I dialed it, put the phone to my ear, and waited impatiently.

_Chkk._ "Hello?" The voice at the other end of the line catapulted me back to the past.

"Daddy?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah sweetie? What's the matter?" My father, Christopher, seemed in a good mood for some reason. It was probably annoying only because I was so stressed.

"What makes you think something's the matter?" I snapped. "Are the only times I call you the times when something's wrong? Can't I just call you to say hi?" I would've continued, but Zack grabbed my phone from me.

"Sir?" Words, indistinguishable nonsense from where I was standing, came from the other end of the line.

"She's just frightened." Zack said in an explanatory tone.

"I am not frightened!" My instantaneous response was embarrassing, and I regretted opening my mouth as soon as the words were out.

"Correction: she's not frightened." Zack gave me an exasperated look, and explained what had just happened, including the fact that Jim was one of our attackers. He paused, listening, and then gave our location. After reassuring Daddy that we were safer here than we'd be anywhere else, he hung up with a snap of my phone, and handed it back to me.

"He's on his way." He said, as if that settled everything. I was annoyed to admit it, but it looked like that would be it.

We waited, Zack in that annoyingly calm way he took most everything, and me, not so calmly. I was impatient. I wanted to do something active. Something like go after those idiots and take out all this tension on them, or give them a piece of my mind, or both. That would be nice. I entertained myself by imagining exactly what I would say to them if I had the chance. It never occurred to me that they would listen. If they were so stupid to actually believe that they could kill all the mutants in the world, then mere words would not un-brainwash them. Nothing would, sadly. 'Course, I didn't think I'd actually get the opportunity to tell them exactly what I thought of them. They let us escape once, next time, we probably wouldn't see them before they tried to kill us.

A car horn distracted me from my morbid thoughts. I peered around the tree I was leaning against, and then sighed in relief. Daddy was finally here.

"Come on." Zack said softly. I had the feeling that he was just as relieved as I was to get out of this place. "You still have the box?" I nodded, and he smiled at me as he took my hand and pulled me behind him. We ran to the car, and got in quickly.

"Hey Daddy." I said quietly.

"Hey sweetheart. You two okay?" My daddy asked worriedly. The lights that came on when the car doors were open illuminated a thin nose set on a boney, haggard face, complete with circles under the piercing green eyes he and I shared (although, he had this way of looking at you like he knew exactly what you were thinking and disapproved that I could never manage. People tended to avoid looking him in the eye if they had secrets).

"Yeah, just shaken." I replied as I sank into the passenger seat and closed the door. I heard an answering thunk as Zack closed his door, and a reassuring click as the doors locked. I buckled up and sank into the leather seat with a sigh. I suddenly was so tired.

I dozed off. I was vaguely aware of some sort of conversation going on between Daddy and Zack, but I couldn't hear the words, and eventually, I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake.

"Mmm." I stretched, yawning as my eyes flickered open sleepily. I blinked confusedly at my dad and, in a second, I was a little girl again.

"Ice cream?" I mumbled, still not awake. "I want vanilla." I yawned again. "You promised, Daddy." He laughed, a sort of breathless chuckle.

"Tomorrow." Apparently realizing that I was still half-asleep, he reached over and unbuckled me. "We're at my apartment now, sweetie. You need to get out, okay?" He didn't give me much of a choice; he gave a gentle tug at my arm, and, yawning, I climbed out. I refused to wake all the way up, though, and I leaned against Zack with my eyes half-closed. He put his arm around my waist and guided me inside, following Daddy, I guess, but it didn't really matter to me at that point.

I'm pretty sure I dozed off again in the elevator on the way upstairs, regardless of the annoyingly bright lights they insisted on putting in there, because the next thing I knew, we were inside Daddy's apartment. He and Zack were talking about something, but I couldn't tell what it was. Then Daddy was on the phone, talking to my mother probably. I didn't really care. As long as I didn't have to live there anymore, I didn't care at all.

I woke up slowly the next morning. Checking the clock, I realized it was past eight. No wonder I was so rested. I sat up and saw Zack.

"Hey," my voice was rough. I cleared it and felt the dryness in my throat. I got up to look for a glass of water.

"Morning." Zack was eating cereal. "Are you actually awake this time?" I glanced at him, confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. Or tried to ask. All that came out was a squeak. I had a sip of water and tried again.

"Nothing. The bowl's are up there." He pointed. "Your dad had to go do…something. I don't know what. He said to make ourselves at home. Here," he pushed a box of Cheerios towards me.

"Thanks." I went to the fridge for milk. Ooh! Orange juice. I got both out and got down another cup. I poured us both some juice, ignoring the face Zack made.

"Don't complain." I told him. "It's good for you."

"Thanks." He said sarcastically.

We ate in silence. Zack got up and went to sit in front of the TV, on the couch that had been my bed. He flipped through a few channels until he found one he liked.

"Lara. Come look at this."


End file.
